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The Outer Limits (1995 TV series)
| narrated = Kevin Conway (control voice) | starring = Various | music = John Van Tongeren Daryl Bennett Jim Guttridge | country = United States Canada | company = Alliance Atlantis Communications Atlantis Films Showtime Networks Trilogy Entertainment Group CFCF-TV CanWest Global Communications Global Television Network The Movie Network SuperChannel | distributor = MGM Television | network = Showtime (1995–2000) Sci Fi (2001–2002) | first_aired = March 26, 1995 | last_aired = January 18, 2002 | num_seasons = 7 | num_episodes = 154 | list_episodes = List of The Outer Limits (1995 TV series) episodes}} The Outer Limits is a Canadian-American television series that originally aired on Showtime, Syfy and in syndication between 1995 and 2002. The series is a revival of the original The Outer Limits series that aired from 1963–65. The Outer Limits is an anthology of distinct story episodes, sometimes with a plot twist at the end. The revival series maintained an anthology format, but occasionally featured recurring story arcs that were then tied together during season-finale clip shows. Over the course of the series, 154 episodes were aired. Its stories are described as more science fiction-based and less dark fantasy than those of The Twilight Zone. History After an attempt to bring back The Outer Limits during the early 1980s, it was finally relaunched in 1995. The success of television speculative fiction such as Star Trek: The Next Generation, The X-Files, and anthology shows such as Tales from the Crypt convinced rights holder Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to revive The Outer Limits. A deal was made with Trilogy Productions, the company behind such cinema hits as Backdraft and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. The show would run on the pay-TV channel Showtime (Trilogy, a Los Angeles- and Canada-based company, is credited with creating the 1995 series). The episodes appeared in syndication the following season (the same arrangement as MGM/Showtime series Stargate SG-1 and Poltergeist: The Legacy). It continued on Showtime until 2001, when Sci-Fi quietly took over production for the seventh and final season. As a result, that season, unlike the previous ones, was completely free of any swearing or nudity. It was canceled in 2002, after a total of 154 episodes—far more than the original incarnation of the show. In the revived show, the Control Voice was supplied by Kevin Conway. The new series distanced itself from the "monster of the week" mandate that had characterized the original series from its inception; while there were plenty of aliens and monsters, they dramatize a specific scientific concept and its effect on humanity. Examples of this include "Dark Rain" (biochemical warfare causing worldwide sterility), "Final Exam" (discovery of practical cold fusion power), "A Stitch in Time" (a time traveler tinkers with history), as well as two episodes revolving around a human mutation known as Genetic Rejection Syndrome (humans mutating into violent creatures) as a result of an outlawed eugenics attempt to create superior children. Production The series was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia. Stories by Harlan Ellison, A. E. van Vogt, Eando Binder, Larry Niven, Richard Matheson, George R.R. Martin, Stephen King, and James Patrick Kelly were adapted. Leslie Stevens was a program consultant for the first four seasons (until his death), while Joseph Stefano served as an executive consultant and later senior advisor throughout the whole series. Stefano also remade his episode "A Feasibility Study", retitling it "Feasibility Study" for the third season. John Van Tongeren and Mark Mancina composed new music different from that of Dominic Frontiere and Harry Lubin. John Van Tongeren scored ten episodes for the first season and continued through season 6. The musical theme for the modern Outer Limits series is credited to John Van Tongeren and Mark Mancina. In most seasons there was a clip show that intertwines the plots of several of the show's episodes (see "The Voice of Reason" for an example). At each commercial interval, the Control Voice can be heard saying "The Outer Limits...please stand by". The voice repeats this phrase upon return from the television ads. The surreal images from the opening are mostly the work of Jerry Uelsmann. A number of episodes from seasons 1–6 feature nudity and other adult content. Though originally broadcast uncensored, those episodes have been edited for commercial syndication. Episodes Tie-in books Between 1997 and 1999, a series of books based on the show but aimed towards younger readers was published by Tor Books, penned by genre fiction author John Peel. The first, The Zanti Misfits, was a loose adaptation of the eponymous 1963 series episode, while others were based on episodes from the new series. #''The Zanti Misfits'' #''The Choice'' #''The Time Shifter'' #''The Lost'' #''The Invaders'' #''The Innocent'' #''The Vanished'' #''The Nightmare'' #''Beware the Metal Children'' #''Alien Invasion from Hollyweird'' #''The Payback'' #''The Change'' Home media Between 2002–2006, six themed DVD anthologies of The Outer Limits, with six episodes each, were released by MGM in the US: Aliens Among Us, Death & Beyond, Fantastic Androids & Robots, Mutation & Transformation, Sex & Science Fiction and Time Travel & Infinity. These DVDs all contain the original uncut episodes, as originally aired, and were collected in a box set, The Outer Limits: The New Series (2006). The Aliens and Sex titles were also released by MGM in the UK and Benelux (2005). *'Aliens Among Us' **S01E13: "Quality of Mercy" **S02E15: "Afterlife" **S05E04: "The Grell" **S04E06: "Relativity Theory" **S07E09: "Alien Shop" **S02E06: "Beyond the Veil" *'Death & Beyond' **S01E04: "The Second Soul" **S05E05: "The Other Side" **S03E11: "New Lease" **S05E18: "Essence of Life" **S07E22: "Human Trials" **S04E25: "Black Box" *'Fantastic Androids & Robots' **S01E18: "I, Robot" **S04E02: "The Hunt" **S02E02: "Resurrection" **S03E07: "The Camp" **S06E12: "Glitch" **S05E03: "Small Friends" *'Mutation & Transformation' **S01E14: "The New Breed" **S05E14: "Descent" **S04E13: "The Joining" **S03E12: "Double Helix" **S06E02: "The Gun" **S05E17: "The Inheritors" *'Sex & Science Fiction' **S01E16: "Caught in the Act" **S03E01: "Bits of Love" **S01E02: "Valerie 23" **S05E07: "The Human Operators" **S06E03: "Skin Deep" **S07E12: "Flower Child" *'Time Travel & Infinity' **S02E01: "A Stitch in Time" **S05E12: "Tribunal" **S06E17: "Gettysburg" **S07E15: "Time to Time" **S05E16: "Déjà Vu" **S07E02: "Patient Zero" Season 1 was released uncut and with extra features on DVD in the US (MGM, 2005), UK (20th Century Fox, 2007) and Germany (Fox/MGM, 2008). Because sales of the set did not meet expectations no further seasons were released. In 2010, Canada's Alliance Home Entertainment released all seven seasons on DVD. Season 1 mirrored the content of the earlier MGM set, while season 2 was also uncensored, with the exception of one episode, "Paradise". Seasons 3–6 all contain numerous censored episodes and are of noticeably poorer visual quality than the first two. Season 7 contains the original unedited episodes, as unlike the previous seasons, it was produced with no nudity or swearing. In 2013, TGG Direct released the seventh season in the US, again unedited but of marginally inferior visual quality than the Alliance season 7 DVDs. The 5-disc set is titled The Outer Limits: The Complete Final Season, and in 2014 it was split and re-released as 3-disc Volume One and 2-disc Volume Two sets. All seven seasons of the series are available uncut on Hulu and selectively edited on Amazon Video and seasons 1-6 are uncut on "The Roku channel" on Roku devices. Reception The Outer Limits revival currently has a rating of 7.8/10 on IMDB. Possible movie In 2014, it was reported that a feature film directed by Scott Derrickson based on the series was to be underway. However, no additional information has been released as of 2019. See also * Science fiction on television * ''The Outer Limits'' (1963 TV series) Similar series * 13 Demon Street * Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond * Amazing Stories * Are You Afraid of the Dark? * Black Mirror * Goosebumps * Masters of Horror * Masters of Science Fiction * Monsters * Night Gallery * Night Visions * Science Fiction Theatre * Tales from the Crypt * Tales from the Darkside * Tales of Tomorrow *''Tales of the Unexpected'' * The Ray Bradbury Theater * The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) * The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series) * The Twilight Zone (2002 TV series) * The Twilight Zone (2019 TV series) * The Veil * Thriller * Ultra Q * ’Way Out * The Hitchhiker (TV series) References External links * Category:Canadian anthology television series Category:1990s American horror television series Category:2000s American horror television series Category:1990s American science fiction television series Category:2000s American science fiction television series Category:1995 American television series debuts Category:2002 American television series endings Category:1990s Canadian science fiction television series Category:2000s Canadian science fiction television series Category:1995 Canadian television series debuts Category:2002 Canadian television series endings Category:Dark fantasy television series Category:Primetime Emmy Award-winning television series Category:Saturn Award-winning television series Category:Showtime (TV network) original programs Category:Television series reboots Category:Television series by MGM Television Category:Television series produced in Vancouver Category:Television series by Alliance Atlantis Category:Space adventure television series Category:Syfy original programs Category:English-language television programs Category:Canadian horror fiction television series Category:American anthology television series Category:American fantasy television series Category:Television series about alien visitations Category:Canadian fantasy television series Category:Philosophy of artificial intelligence Category:Television series scored by John Van Tongeren Category:Television series scored by Mark Mancina Category:Television series scored by J. Peter Robinson Category:Television series scoed by Joel Goldsmith Category:Television series scored by Christophe Beck